Artificial fish bait



Feb. 22, 1949.

o. TALLAKSEN 2,462,437

ARTIFICIAL FISH BAIT Filed March 3, 1947 INVEN TOR.

BY OLAF 7J4LL'AKSEN Patented Feb. 22, 1949 STATES" PATENT OFFICE ARTIFIGIAL FISH BAIT ()lafi Tallaksen, Chicago, 111..

AppIioationMarch-B, 1947', Seri'aINo; 732,050

5 Claims.

These game fish arefrequentlyfonnd around. beds; sunken: logs;v submerged". snags; etc:,.

where they are constantly in search; of:v food; con,-

ofi fries. and: buggwhich: fall on. the; Water,

and? also. crawflsln minnows and? the; likein; the

water. This necessitatesithe use-oij a lure. having embodied therewith whatzis known as-.a:.weedl'ess heels?" There are many: different. kindsof artificial:

baits entire market and in use today; such as buck-tails, spoons; wooden. plugs; etc., these baits.

after being cast: and? retrieved wobble: or return in; at zig-zag manner, saith baits-are; either what is:- known as: fioaters -"or nonefioatersz Floatingtype-bait's have specifi'osadvantagesas Well asthe now-floating type.

The-ahove mentioned baitsprovidedwith unprotected hooksbecome -entangledand snagged in the under-water obstructions in weed beds, etm, causing muclr annoyance and oftentimes even the loss ot the bait. Game-fish-in different localitiesapparently require ordesire different kinds and typesof baits, also different kinds of game require various kinds of lures in order to tempt themto strike; With the-use of the luresfound on the market today the fisherman must, in order to catchvarious kind of fish, he-

vided with a hook-guard extending substantially front the=firrward end of the shank of the hook tothe point'otthehook; so that it will restuponsaid point and cover the point of the hook to prevent direct engagement of weeds with said point of said hook, as,w\el1.as '00. assist the hook in turning away from and" avoiding weeds and likerobstrnctions with which it may-come in contact. Prior to this invention the'weedeguard of every hookoit the Weedless type has: been either a spring-guard, or a spring actuated guard; said types:when stiff enough to serve the purpose of guarding againstnthe booking or weeds, and the like; are generally stifi. enoughto interfere with the' propenhooking otthe fish. The hook-guard provided. disclosed herewith with this novel bait protects the: point. bythe use ot' a conical hollow headi atone end of aflexibiewireguard or the like, the other end of said guard being hingedly attached to the spoon, or shank end of the hook,

said: hollow head resting, upon; andentirelyen-- closing the, point of the hook.. This typeof; guardi gives; all the-a advantages: oi the. springrguard. type; and; retains all the advantages to. the baitof; an ordinary unguarded; hook by reason of the. guard yieldingyreadily to pressure, and remaining away from: said point so that it does not exert anypresasure in any directiononce it is removed: from the point of:the hook.

With; these: and. other obj acts: in view, the: ins vention. consists: in the: novel combination and arrangementof parts. which wilhbe fully-setkfiorth in the following specification: and accompanying drawings in which:

Figure I is a. plan. view or thedevice from its concave or so-ca11ed inner side;

Figure II is a. side elevational view of" said device turned with its. convex side downward} Figure III is a plan View of the device from its convex. or so-calledouter side;

Figure IV is a longitudinal section view correspondingto Figure II, taken substantially axially of the device, and with the Weed-guard rest ing upon: the pointed end of the stationary hole:-

Figure- V is asectional' View similar toFigure- IV showing the weed-guard resting against the inner-side of the spoon and away from thepoint of the stationary hook.

Referring to the drawing Figures 1? toV inclusive indicates a spoon I-0 of any desired form having its stationary hook H- provided with a spring guard wire l2 carrying a conical guard I35, said hook H secured" at the forward end of" the spoon It by lug or curved finger HI extending upwardly from the concave side or' faceof" the body of said spoon I 0. Said hook- H extending rearwardly, from said lug M, longitudinally over" the concave (inner) side of the'spoorr through itstail portion l5 to the convex (outer) side thereof; and with the bent portion l'fi of the hook curving upwardly back and over said concave side of the. spoon. The hook is applied by passing its point 26 and curved portion I6 through the slot. lTfiiom. the concave to the convex side of the spoomandl' engaging the eyelet I8 of the hookover the lug; or finger M" before saidlug is pressed downwardly and substantially in contact with the inner face of the spoon. The forward end of theg uardkwi're I2? is formed with, substantially right. angular bends Eil'and 2 l', forming endportion ZZIandlcentra l': portion 24.; said portion 24; being hingediy secured to the spoon by said lug orfinger M1. The free end or rearward; end of the. guard; Wire l2 having secured" thereto an enlarged. hell;- shaped" guard, hollow bead or conical guard" [3, the; interior 25 of said guard. I3 resting,directlyv upon the point 2.6 formed. adjacent. the; curved that it must be reset.

wardly away from said spoon. Should said guard wire l2 be forced in any direction by the mouth of a fish, it yields readily and the conical guard I3 is drawn forwardly enough to slide the point 25 of hook H, and said wire l2 dropping downwardly into the position shown by Figure V.

The spoon l shown in Figures I to V is formed with a hole or other opening 28, as shown clearly in Figure III, to receive a connecting link or swivel 29 for attaching the end of a fishing line.

In the operation of this lure the weed-guard i3 serves the purpose of guarding against the hooking of weeds. In service, the guard I3 is placed in contact with the point 25 of hook I E. When a fish takes the hook and its jaws close down thereon, the wire l2 will be easily flexed and bent downwardly, allowing the conical guard I3 to slip off the point 26, said wire [2 and guard l3 takingthe position as shown in Figure V, offering no resistance to the taking of the hooks by the fishythe wire l2 remaining substantially in whatever position it is forced to by pressure. Each time a fish is caught the guard 53 must be reset, therefore-the wire I2 must be flexed or bent away from the point 25 of the hook so that conical guard l3 'may be placed upon and entirely over and around said point 26. The advantages of this type weed-guard are so great compared to former types that they offset any disadvantage No guard has ever been known to have these novel features of completely surrounding the hook point and resting thereon until removed, this action being obtained by a device free of springs and non-elastic guard members. V

In accordance with the patent statutes I have described the preferred form of the invention, but inasmuch as various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention all such changes are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a fishing lure, a body member having an eye intermediate the ends thereof, and a slot adjacent an end thereof, a hook extending through the slot and provided with an eye at one end of its shank secured to the first eye, and a guard of resilient material having an eye at one end freely pivoted on the eye of the body and a conical formation at its opposite end adapted to be maintained in a guard relation with the pointed end of the hook, whereby when a fish bites on the hook and pushes the guard out of its engaged relation with the point, the guard will become deformed from its original shape and will move to a position on the body where the cone shape portion thereof will contact an edge portion of the body of the lure, said conical formation hav-- ing, an inner wall surface thereof in only single point gravity urged supporting contact on the hook. V

2. In a fishing lure, a body member havin an eye intermediate the front and rear ends thereof, a hook extending rearwardly and upwardly beyond the rear end of thebody, said hook provided with an eye at one end of its shank secured to said eye of the body, and a guard of resilient material having an eye at one end freely pivoted to the eye of the body and a conical formation at its opposite end adapted to be maintained in a guard relation with the pointed end of the hook, whereby when a fish bites on the hook and pushes the guard out of its engaged relation with the supporting contact on the hook.

3. In a fishing lure, a body member having an eye intermediate the front and rear ends thereof, a hook extending rearwardly beyond the rear end of the body, said hook provided with an eye at one end of its shank secured t the body, and a guard of resilient material havin an eye at one end freely pivoted 0n the eye of the body and a conical member at its opposite end adapted to be maintained in a guard relation with the pointed end of the hook, whereby when a fish bites on the lure and pushes the guard out of its engaged relation with the point, the guard will become deformed from its original shape and will allow the conical member to fall downwardly, said conical member having an inner wall surface thereof in only'single point gravity urged sup porting contact on the hook.

4. The combination with a spoon type fish lure having a body member with an eye intermediate the ends thereof, of a fish hook having one end of its shank secured 'to said body member, said hook including a point at its free end, and a flexible wire guard pivotally secured at one end to said eye on said body and terminating at its opposite free end with a hollow cone-shaped member, said cone shaped member capable of contacting said point and coverin the point of the hook when in contact therewith, whereby when a fish bites on the lure and pushes the guard out of its engaged relation with the point, the guard will become deformed from its original shape and will allow the conical member to fall downwardly, said conical member having an inner wall surface thereof in only single point gravity urged supporting contact on the hook.

5. The combination of a fish lure having a body member with an eye intermediate the ends there of, a hook secured to said body member, said hook having a pointed end, and a flexible guide having one end pivotally secured to said eye, said guide terminating at its free end with a hollow conical head, said head capable of contacting and surrounding the point of said hook when in serv ice position for fishing, whereby when a fish bites on the lure and pushes the guard out of its engaged relation with the point, the guard will become deformed from its original shape and will allow the conical member to fall downwardly, said conical member having an inner wall surface thereof in only single point gravity urged supporting contact onthe hook.

OLAF TALLAKSEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Tallaksen Jan. 14, 1947 

